Monday, April 29, 2013

Mall Update

So I went to the nearby mall Saturday in search of my ‘new
look’.It was my first visit to this
particular mall in more than ten years but it felt just like it did then … big,
confusing and full of stuff I don’t want or need.However, I did stick with my usual shopping
focus.I had three specific types of
things to buy or at least look at and that is exactly what I did.

First, as I mentioned a few days ago, was clothes.I looked at dress clothes and casual clothes and
quickly determined that Macy’s has a great selection of dress clothes that look
right on 40 and 50 year olds and casual clothes perfectly suited to either 18-year-old
high school seniors or 30-year-old gay men.So I decided this would be a dress clothes shopping trip.I looked at everything, had the sales guy
measure me for proper shirt size (which turned out to be exactly the sizing I
guessed) and picked out a couple of basic items.I looked at every brand and ended up with
Dockers pants and a Van Heusen shirt.I
know I said I would search for other brands but most of the other brands did
not appeal to me, partly because the most popular current trend is ‘slim fit’
and while I am in decent shape, I am not ‘slim fit’.

The casual clothes choices were very frustrating.There were some great looking items but most
would look a little odd on me.This is
not a comfort zone issue, it is an issue of not trying to dress like an
18-year-old.I was surprised by how many
polo shirts were on display, however, but I am trying to get away from that
look.Funny thing is that maybe it is
popular again and maybe I should just keep buying them, but in different colors
than my usual palette.I also considered
advice given in the Comments section of my previous style post … I went with
blue for the dress shirt and I did not see one single Hawaiian shirt.Guess I’ll just have to go to Hawaii again
for that.

The other items on my focused shopping list: skillets and a
bicycle tire pump.The tire pump was
easy … I went to Sears.Found what I
wanted in the sporting goods department in five minutes; three of those minutes
were a flashback to my first full-time job … in the sporting goods department
of a Sears store.The skillet story is a
whole different matter.There are way
too many choices.How can it be so hard
to find good quality 10 inch and 12 inch non-stick skillets with covers?And I want one pot … I don’t know the size, I
just know it has to be larger than the medium sized one I already have.I don’t want a whole set.

I did walk the mall end-to-end looking for other stores with
men’s casual clothes but didn’t see any stores that appealed to me.I chose not to enter every store because that
violated my focused approach.I think my
next step in search of casual clothes is to visit another mall, one that is in
a different part of my county featuring slightly more upscale stores.If that doesn’t work, I’ll shove my ego in
the closet and try Wal-mart.Or maybe I
should just go back to the place where I’ve done most of my clothes shopping
during the past ten or fifteen years: the outlet mall.

About Me

INTERESTS

Coffee at the White House

Followers

Excerpts from a song I like

You and me together, we could do anything baby. You and me together, yes yes.
Wanna pack your bags, something small, take what you need
and we disappear without a trace we’ll be gone, gone
You and I, we’re not tied to the ground
Not falling but rising like rolling around
Eyes closed above the rooftops
Eyes closed, we’re gonna spin through the stars
Our arms wide as the sky
We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world, to the end of the world.
We can look back at what we did, all these memories of you and me baby
But right now it’s you and me forever girl
You know that you and me, we could do anything
Two of us together, we could do anything

-- Dave Matthews

Lyrics I Wish I'd Written

The first time we kissed I lost my legs.

Dave Matthews

Baby this could be our last first kiss,

history in the making

Darius Rucker

Life's not the breaths you take

...but the moments that take your breath away.

sung by George Strait

So tell that someone that you love

just what you're thinking of

if tomorrow never comes

Garth Brooks

I’ve lost the use of my heart
But I’m still alive,
Still looking for the life
The endless pool on the other side.
I’m a soldier of love.
Sade